Top APS female commander named new Nyanza region police boss

The new Nyanza region commander APS commandant Gisiri Nyamohanga

A top commander in the Administration Police Service (APS) was Tuesday named the new Nyanza Regional Police Commander in changes.

Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Eliud Lagat moved the National Police Service Senior Staff College Emali Campus APS commandant Gisiri Nyamohanga and named her the new Nyanza RPC.

She will replace Patrick Tito who was moved to Vigilance House and named the Principal Assistant to Lagat.

Lagat termed the changes normal to enhance operations at large.

She was the senior most female officer in the APS.

Officials said the move is due to ongoing deliberate efforts to enhance cross-service deployments.

This comes following newly announced promotions of more than 700 senior officers by the National Police Service Commission.

More changes are expected in the service following the promotions.

A number of recently prompted senior police officers will lie idle and without an office to hold.

This is after it emerged the Commission promoted more officers to the affected ranks than the available and vacant offices.

This means the majority, some who are too young will have to wait for years to be posted for productive work.

For instance, the commission promoted more than 135 Senior Superintendent Police officers to the rank of Commissioner of Police.

Other beneficiaries also included 277 officers of the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) 261 Superintendents of Police (SP) and 50 civilian staff of National Police Service (NPS) in various cadres.

A total of 51 other officers of the rank of CP were promoted to the rank of AIG.

NPSC promoted 14 senior police officers to the rank of Senior Assistant Inspector General (SAIG).

The NPSC promoted a total of 724 senior officers of the ranks between Assistant Superintendent (ASP) and Commissioner of Police (CP), which insiders termed as historic.

The NPSC outgoing chairman Eliud Kinuthia said they met on March 10 and received recommendations for the promotion of police officers from the Inspector General, NPS in accordance with the Law.

The Commission reviewed the extent to which the recommended officers fulfill the requirements of promotion to the various ranks and was satisfied that the criteria was met. 

Following the promotions, Tito was Monday moved to Vigilance House in Nairobi and named Principal Assistant to Lagat. 

This follows the retirement of former PA to DIG Miriam Muli last month. 

As the PA to the DIG, Tito will be the main driver of the service in many ways. He will advise the DIG on many operational matters. 

He goes to a familiar territory. He had served former police bosses as a Personal Assistant in the same office.

They include Maj Gen (Rtd) Hussein Ali, Mathew Iteere, David Kimaiyo and Joseph Boinnet.

He was then moved to the diplomatic police unit, railways, and later to Nyanza where he has served for almost a year.